([ Foreword ])As an ongoing mass roleplay, sporadic and unscheduled scenes written in cliquish groups are expected. The solution is to be inclusive and proactive, so hopefully there's still some fun to be had. Storytelling is handled by whoever is interested in writing an arc, though standard etiquette applies, of course (avoid stepping on each other's toes! ;3). I don't intend to be the exclusive canoneer or storyteller, so run free!

Players should communicate with each other to run scenes, the points of this roleplay's design being freedom and impromptu availability. Failing that, I can usually be found on the cbox when I'm around; I don't mind being a fixer if the group isn't sufficient, and I wouldn't start a roleplay if I weren't interested in writing scenes in it. :D

​

([ The State of the World ])

[ 2089 ]
After decades of political restructuring, the European Union now endorses significant portions of Africa and Asia, obsoleting the twentieth century superpowers. Its economic clout and political stability is unrivaled, but with the western hemisphere and southern Asia largely out of its scope, it is hardly uncontested. While many independent nations oppose the Union's globalization policy, the world's collective affluence has averted most serious conflict.

The American nations have been especially isolationist regarding the Union; though there has been little else in the way of animosity between the two hemispheres, the loose band of American nations are about the only competition the EU has to concern itself with, and they have taken advantage of their de facto ties with each other to keep their counterpart on a leash. As a result, the Union considers America to be a political nuisance; a quiet arms race has slowly been rolling along, though neither side has any intention of provoking the other.

The underground world is an entirely different matter, however. Especially among south Asian and southeast African nations, there is a sentiment of dread regarding the European Union's rather swift encroachment. Cyber-crime has become synonymous with terrorism as a result of increasingly sophisticated artificial intelligences and the world's heavy reliance on technology. EU candidate-nations are often targets of various invasions such as rolling blackouts, media hijacking, communication obstruction, and information tampering, all serious threats to public safety and government stability.

([ The Information Golden Age ])

[ Transhumanism ]
The steady march of progress has been particularly generous to the field of prosthetics; many of the more advanced cases surpass natural human ability to the point of being desirable to perfectly healthy individuals. While popular convention holds that such machinery ought to be reserved for the ill and injured, it isn't unusual especially among wealthy company to hear of an augmented organ or two for longevity's sake.

[ Virtual Reality ]
Increasingly precise interpretations of brain signals have helped to track down the key to human consciousness, allowing for the digitalization of memories, thoughts, sensations, motor signals, and so on. While there remains a significant population which is concerned about the implications of removing a person from their own mind, there is no way to confirm or deny the plausibility of copy-delete deaths as a result of virtualizing; as such, the Internet has become popular real-estate thanks to the low cost of living and potential immortality it provides.

[ Artificial Intelligence ]
Simulating human consciousness inspired experimentation with null simulations — instances without a real human for source data, but maintaining all the interfaces necessary to provide an environment for a self-aware intelligence — which eventually became the basis for sentient artificial intelligence. The entities resulting from this process require an incredible amount of template data to achieve even infantile reasoning skills, but as they are essentially indistinguishable from uploaded humans, the effort has been worth the results.

[ Microengineering ]
The exponential pattern of miniaturization has made malleable the structure of molecular compounds; taking particular interest in this development are pioneers in chemistry, genetics, and engineering, making possible many of the unobtaniums of the early twenty-first century and practical the mass reproduction of previously tedious, unreliable processes. As a result, technologies which had been only theoretical before have begun to be made a reality in the past decade.

[ Nuclear Fusion ]
With new radioactive shielding compounds available en masse, safe nuclear power has become a reality, quickly becoming a popular alternative energy source in light of the impending oil scarcity crisis. However, cold fusion remains in the realm of experimentation for the most part, preventing application of this energy revolution in anything much smaller than a combustion engine.

([ Potential Arcs ])

[ Virtually Global ]
In light of the world's increasingly cooperative political theater, patriots and isolationists alike find their lifestyles invaded by foreign influence and political dereliction. While some find themselves helpless, an underground revolution has begun to earn quite a disreputable name for itself. Cyber-crime sweeps entire cities into days and even weeks of crises one after another, discouraging governments from joining the globalization bandwagon.Political Thriller,Noire;

[ Alone in a Crowd ]
The growing influence of artificial sentience on everyday living has brought back many of the twentieth-century concerns regarding robot overlords and the like; while many are excited for the new breed of intelligence, there remains an air of doubt among various communities. When the first generation of sentient androids are brought into the world, the public polarizes on the issue, exaggerating the hostility of the androids' new, alien home.Social Drama, Slice of Life;

[ Systematic Failure ]
While virtualization has made it possible to isolate mind from body, conspiracy theories rise regarding some of the nuances of the process; of particular interest is an old question among science fiction theorists: Is it transferral or duplication? When failed transfers start to make their way into public interest, urban myths begin to saturate paranormal discussion boards. Legend or not, however, some have dedicated quite a lot of their time to learning more about these stories.Psychological Horror, Paranormal Fantasy;

[ ??? ]
The world is a rather large place; while there is chaos on the frontier, there is tranquility and affluence beyond and afore it; many scales of conflict exist from private drama to social revolution. Naturally, there are many more issues to be explored than are listed here.Make A Suggestion, Your Idea Here;

If you're interested in starting a scene, just talk to somebody online in the group or myself; you might even check the Roleplay City to see if somebody's already up to something. Planned scenes are coordinated here; it's a good place to check if you prefer to segue your way into a story.

I'll be hosting this sort of thing often to try and give everybody a chance to get hooked into the setting. Consider this the consistent, recurring part of the otherwise sporadic roleplay. :3

Some establishment of setting and context will occur here, giving players an idea of what they're getting into. Character introductions and initial development are definitely encouraged. Consider this a proof of concept, as the roleplay in its current form is basically in Alpha development; a lot of the things that may be established are volatile ideas and thus may be subject to change.

I really need to pretty up the logistical threads and get everything greased and oiled. <.<
In any case, have fun! :D

I am very much an aggressive player, I have many ideas and love to try them out, but this is saying it is something I actively sought out. If i was introduced to something I often am much more passive.

Favorite Genres:

Anime, Fantasy, Post-Apocalyptic, Action/Adventure, and Dark. Sometimes I like to do Edgy things, but it has to be played out right to work for me.

Genre You DON'T Like:

I don't like anything possible in the real world. I like everything to be imaginative. This is not to say I don't enjoy those stories, but I don't like playing them.

((OOC: So based off the overview I just start one of those arcs? @Sammy Khoa ))

If you'd like, yes! For this first expository event, I'll be narrating a hook for Virtually Global that can be expanded upon in later scenes; once things get really going, I'll have a rotation of narrators so everybody gets a chance to involve characters in their own arcs. Think of the expository event as a roleplay hub for Opus Novum; once you have a party going, there's no reason to wait on me or anybody else but the players you've associated yourself with. Plan a session or five and get to roleplaying! Just make sure to keep a copy of the logs so we can archive them later! :D

@VicViper1:
It's all right; it looks like everybody forgot. I showed up just in the nick of time, myself, it having skipped my mind until I spotted the date on the calendar. xD

I need to reconsider logistics regarding this roleplay. Maybe I should set up a ConfBox chat some time so we can all discuss how to make this happen.

@Lstorm, @Thomas McTavish, and I are planning to have such a Confbox discussion some time in the near future, here; if you'd like to get involved, now's the time to do so — that way we can schedule the discussion at a time convenient for you! :D

Sorry for the short notice! ^.^;

The conference's been planned for 23:00 PST tonight, on account of strange schedules and timezone stretching. If that happens to line up with your activity patterns and you'd like in on the conversation, pop into the Conference Box and join in! :D

Our interest has not waned! @Lstorm and I plan on doing some work with this during the weekend! You're welcome to hop into the Conference Box and join us! :3

I'll plan for Friday night at midnight PST (that's 0200 [forty hours from now] for you servertime junkies ;3) to accommodate the European demographic, but if you need a different time to chat, feel free to let me know here or in PM so we can collaborate! :D

So, May 9th! Probably thinking some time around 2200PST. @Lstorm, @Thomas McTavish, and I are planning to keep plotting up until then. Check the cbox and conference box late night server time on weekends if you want to get involved! :D

We're planning on hosting a virtual reality corporate arc for Expository #1. Founding characters find themselves involved in a focus group for a media company trying to get in on the growing VR market. Some might be staff, others may have nothing to do with anything! All we know is that something goes terribly, horribly wrong. D:

An awfully vague starter, I know — but I hope the point got across! xD

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